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new guy here.. and practically a new guy to SF gardening. My handle is Metalshaper, and as you can imagine I'm known more for the Black powder rifles I build... rather than raising a garden!

I started a couple of years ago, raising 'bucket' tomatoes.. then tomatoes and summer squash.. this year I used the old stockade fence panels we replaced, to make My raised beds. have two that are 6' X 4' and a long bed, 2' X 12'works out to 72 SF +/-

I have a decent start at growing snap pees and pole beans, but have encountered a difficulty. I was ripping cedar boards to make the 'pole teepees' and in a moment of lost focus,( and a kick back ) I introduced my left index finger to the saw blade! so now I'm looking for some ideas of how to climb the beans/pees. For some reason my wife doesn't want me using the saw for a bit???

metalshaper/Jonathan. Sorry about your finger, I must admit it makes me cringe when I hear about accidents like that, I appreciate your wife's feelings.Perhaps to support your peas and beans you could use twine? It would last for the season, I think.

Kind of embarrassed about the BooBoo.. first time in nearly 20 yrs of having a shop, that I managedto do something like that?

Appreciate the ideas and will be looking into the wire panel idea.. I mentioned getting something from the shop this morning and got "That Look" from my Lynn Marie.. She has put a temporary ban on any power equipment use??

I tried garden twine crisscrossed from two opposing poles. Used a lot of twine and it started to fall apart midseason. The following year I used garden netting made from nylon and it not only lasted the season, it was used again the next year. I have it for this season as well.I used 2 metal fence posts at the ends to support the netting.

My hubby (Mr. Gadget Guy) has a LOT of power tools. He's put a screw thru his finger, carried a bruise for weeks from having a board kick back on him while cutting, etc. So I understand your Lynn Marie. AND you, lol!

Would love to see some pix of your rifles. Both of us are firearms instructors.

For beans, I let a single string drop down and entangled it with the young bean plant stems. Within usually a single day, sometimes two, the bean tendrils would begin to circle around the twine and follow it upward, especially if the natural growth habit (toward the most intense sun) made the stems or tendrils have to reach across and touch the string as the plant searched for the sun. Sometimes I wound the tendrils around the twine myself. The beans grew about eight feet tall, but did not break the twine. I kept them well-picked, and that probably helped. But I also had wood connecting many of my tall stakes horizontally, so once they reached those horizontal pieces, at about five feet high, there was no more strain on string that hung to the ground.

From there, the beans amused themselves traveling a loose, somewhat random series of pieces of twine connecting the stakes together.

At the end of the season, I cut most of the twine away and threw it in the compost pile.

My hubby (Mr. Gadget Guy) has a LOT of power tools. He's put a screw thru his finger, carried a bruise for weeks from having a board kick back on him while cutting, etc. So I understand your Lynn Marie. AND you, lol!

Would love to see some pix of your rifles. Both of us are firearms instructors.

AtlantaMarie.

not sure where to post the pics? is here OK? I'd be willing to show a couple of them

Respect AlwaysMetalshaper/Jonathan

byw, our son just got home from college and wants me to build some speaker stands for him might be a couple of more days before "She" will let me down there????

MS, Thank you for sharing. My dad loved to tinker with the wood stocks. Sanding, staining, insets, engraving. He had a black powder rifle and pistol over the brick fireplace that I handed down to my 2 sons. He also made his own ammo in the garage. Those are good memories for me.

I have used walnut, pecan and ash.. but mainly use curly maple.. Sometimes called tiger maple. < cuz in a really fancy piece they have tons of stripes > and that first gun, the blue coloration is nothing more than heat oxidation! polished up the piece and then played a torch on it until it went blue.. Much darker in person, but for some reason it looks different in the pic? The gold is inlaid brass bands I had the idea and my Buddy Marlow helped me get it done..

Sanderson,

If nothing else, I'm glad it brought back a good memory of your Dad!

I tinker and putz around.. reload ammo and such and basically just try to keep the mind active and creating.. Drives Lynn Marie crazy